12 posts in this topic

[b]SARASOTA, FL[/b] - A homeless man spent the night in a Sarasota County jail after a police officer accused him of stealing by charging his cell phone at a public park.

An arrest report says that a Sarasota police sergeant spotted 28-year-old Darren Kersey charging his phone Sunday evening in a public picnic shelter at Gillespie Park.

The sergeant told Kersey that the "theft of city utilities will not be tolerated during this bad economy" and then arrested him on a misdemeanor charge of theft of utilities.

Unable to pay the $500 bond, Kersey spent the night in jail. But the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that Kersey was released Monday morning after a judge threw the case out, saying the sergeant lacked the legal justification to make the arrest.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

This just goes to show that some cops think they are out there to enforce laws that don't even exist. People get arrested for doing things that are perfectly legal, but that the officer happens to personally dislike. Guy was in a public park and used an outlet there to charge his cell phone. The time and money that was spent arresting the guy and housing him for the night certainly far outweighed the few cents worth of electricity the man used. That being said, I'm sure the homeless guy appreciated getting to sleep on a bed that night instead of a park bench.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

so are they going to arrest all those musicians that just plug their amp into a park outlet and play away too?... don't know how many times I've seen stuff like that

[quote name='roadwarrior' timestamp='1352919112' post='595320196']
This just goes to show that some cops think they are out there to enforce laws that don't even exist. People get arrested for doing things that are perfectly legal, but that the officer happens to personally dislike. Guy was in a public park and used an outlet there to charge his cell phone. The time and money that was spent arresting the guy and housing him for the night certainly far outweighed the few cents worth of electricity the man used. That being said, I'm sure the homeless guy appreciated getting to sleep on a bed that night instead of a park bench.
[/quote]

we had a lady here that was arrested for "theft of services" when she threw away a bag of food left over from the restaurant she was at in a trash can outside the place on the city sidewalk..... why even put the trash can there if you can't use it? they claimed she should of thrown the food away inside the restaurant.... good grief...

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

[quote]
Kersey was released Monday morning after a judge threw the case out, saying the sergeant lacked the legal justification to make the arrest
[/quote]
Can't he sue? (with a government appointed lawyer)

Share on other sites

[quote name='roadwarrior' timestamp='1352919112' post='595320196']
This just goes to show that some cops think they are out there to enforce laws that don't even exist. People get arrested for doing things that are perfectly legal, but that the officer happens to personally dislike. Guy was in a public park and used an outlet there to charge his cell phone. The time and money that was spent arresting the guy and housing him for the night certainly far outweighed the few cents worth of electricity the man used. That being said, I'm sure the homeless guy appreciated getting to sleep on a bed that night instead of a park bench.
[/quote]

Exactly.

That and this part:
[quote name='article'][...]
The sergeant told Kersey that the "theft of city utilities will not be tolerated [size=5][b]during this bad economy[/b][/size]" [emphasis mine] and then arrested him on a misdemeanor charge of theft of utilities.
[...][/quote]